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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29110680">An Unexpected Encounter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLightFury/pseuds/TheLightFury'>TheLightFury</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vukovich/pseuds/Vukovich'>Vukovich</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M, Teddy's a precious bean, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, literally tooth-rotting, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:53:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,637</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29110680</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLightFury/pseuds/TheLightFury, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vukovich/pseuds/Vukovich</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of a perfect day at the zoo with Teddy, Harry finds himself in Diagon Alley. And who should they meet there, but one Draco Malfoy.<br/><br/>!~~~~WIP CRACK~~~~!</p><p>Teddy gets his ice cream, and eats it, too.<br/>Harry meets someone even more unexpected than just a plain ol' domestic Malfoy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Crack This WIP</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An Unexpected Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLightFury/gifts">TheLightFury</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“...And I loved the Tigers because they go RAWR! And the monkeys were so cool! I wanna swing from tree to tree like them! Can you take me to a jungle next Saturday? I wanna see them in their home! Oh! And the snakes! It’s <em> so cool </em>that you can talk to them! I wish I could! Then we could have secret conversations that no one else understands! And I loved...”</p><p>Harry grinned to himself as Teddy chuntered on beside him, buzzing from their trip to the London Zoo. It had been a perfect day. They’d practically had the zoo to themselves as it was a school day, and for some reason, the residents had all been quite lively today too. Tiger cubs had played rough and tumble, biting on each other’s ears before running away, bears had gamboled about in their enclosure, and all the snakes had all said hi (but the reason for their activity wasn’t such a mystery). Plus, because it was such a quiet day, many of the zoo keepers weren’t as busy, and so had happily taught Teddy all about the animals. The boy had loved every second, and Harry’s cheeks were now aching from smiling so much. </p><p>It was only the sun beginning to descend towards the horizon that had dragged them away from their final stop—the otters—but now they were on their way to Teddy’s second favourite place in the world. </p><p>Fortescue’s.</p><p>Rounding a corner to reveal a dark pub halfway down the road, Teddy’s eyes glowed with excitement.</p><p>“ICE CREAM!!!” With a final bounce, Teddy shot off into the Leaky, navigating easily through people’s legs as Harry smiled and nodded at the patrons who lifted their hands in acknowledgement. As he finally reached the bricks, Teddy practically jumped out of his skin in anticipation. </p><p>“Can I do the sequence with you, Uncle Harry, please?” </p><p>“Sure!” Harry grinned, hoisting the boy onto his hip, letting Teddy hold his wand with Harry’s hand covering his small one. A few short, magical taps later, Diagon Alley was revealed, a familiar, warm sense of nostalgia flowing over Harry as Teddy jumped through.</p><p>“Have you ever played with a bear, Uncle Harry?” Teddy babbled as they made their way through bustling shoppers. “I know they’re scary so you need to be careful but you’ve ridden dragons, so I think you could do it!”</p><p>“No I haven’t,” he chuckled, “I think it would be best to leave them to play with each other, don’t you?” Teddy frowned.</p><p>“I’d be okay! I could make myself look like one of its cubs! Look!” Crouching on all fours, growling quietly, Teddy morphed his nose into a bear snout and stalked in front of him awkwardly, desperately trying to walk on all fours without his bum in the air. </p><p>“Very convincing!” Harry laughed before sweeping him off the floor and into the air. High pitched squeals immediately rang out. </p><p>“Uncle Haaarrrry!” Teddy protested, nose returning to normal. “I wasn’t done being a bear yet!”</p><p>“Well I’m sorry,” Harry apologised, knowing full well he didn’t look the slightest bit regretful. “But it’s a good job you aren’t a bear though, I don’t think bears eat ice cream…” </p><p>Teddy gasped in horror.</p><p>“But <em> everyone </em>needs ice cream! I can’t wait till we get there! I’m going to have chocolate, and butterbeer, and—and and raspberry!” Teddy’s eyes sparkled with excitement as Harry laughed.</p><p>In fact, he was so busy laughing that he didn’t have time to avoid the figure speeding towards them. </p><p> </p><p>!~~~~~WIP CRACK~~~~~!</p><p> </p><p>"Harry!"  Draco rushed up and grabbed him by the shoulders, eyes wide, face flushed.  "Harry!  Oh, gods!"</p><p>"Merlin's muff, Malfoy," Harry muttered.  "What's gotten into you?"</p><p>"It work-"</p><p>"Hi, Uncle D!"</p><p>"Ack!"  Draco squawked as Teddy peeked out from behind Harry's legs.  "I mean-  Hello.  Hi.  Hey.  How do, Ted?"</p><p>"Uncle Harry's looking for bears!"</p><p>Draco clicked his tongue and studied Harry's face for a moment.  "Is that so?"</p><p>"Yeah!  He's gonna go find the biggest, strongest bear!"</p><p>Harry's breath huffed out in a resigned sigh, and Draco looked him up and down.  "Well.  Uncle Harry does have diverse tastes in... wildlife."</p><p>"Draco, don't."</p><p>"Oh, far be it from me to hinder your search," he said, mock pain across his face.  "I think this is an excellent place for bear-hunting.  They <em>adore</em> ice cream.  Don't they, Harry?"</p><p>"Seriously.  Shut.  Up."</p><p>Harry held the door to Fortescue's open, and Teddy bounced in.  Draco lingered on the sidewalk, still breathing heavily.  Harry frowned and shook his head, but Teddy's hands wrapped around Harry's forearm and tugged him inside.</p><p>"<em>See</em>, Uncle Harry!  I told you bears like ice cream!  Uncle D, what flavor do bears like best?"</p><p>"Well, I don't suppose they have salmon ice cream.  Nor should they.  Probably raspberry."</p><p>"<em>See?!</em>"</p><p>Draco looked both ways down the sidewalk.  "You have fun.  I'll catch up in a bit.  Keep an eye on Uncle Harry, Ted.  He might follow a bear off in to the woods and never come back."  He took off in a flurry of blonde and baffling, and Harry let Teddy drag him up to the counter.</p><p>"Alright, Teddy.  What'll it be?"</p><p>"I want a scoop of chocolate, two scoops of butterbeer, and three scoops of raspberry for the bear. I think bears need at least three scoops, cuz they probably make a really bad mess when they eat ice cream."</p><p>Harry chuckled as he felt around in his pocket for a few Galleons.  "That's a bit much.  How about a half-scoop of chocolate and a half-scoop of butterbeer?"</p><p>Teddy bounced the toe of his shoe off the base of the counter and pouted.  "Fine.  But what about the bear?"</p><p>"I'll get a scoop of raspberry, and if I don't find a bear to feed it to, I'll eat it.  Sound good?"  He nodded to the server behind the glass-cased freezer, and the man nodded back.</p><p>Settled in at one of the larger tables, Teddy dug into his ice cream like a wild animal while Harry cast a <em>Glacius</em> over the scoop of raspberry and waited.  In about twenty minutes, Teddy would be bouncing off the walls like an over-excited crup, but it was worth watching his little eyes light up with each bite.</p><p>Slowly, Harry snuck a spoon toward the raspberry ice cream.  It looked amazing.  Little bits of berry pulp were swirled in through pink and white sweet cream.</p><p>"Uncle Harry!  No!"  Teddy pointed his spoon at Harry.  "That is for the <em>bear</em>."</p><p>"Right.  Sorry."</p><p>Teddy's face was an elated mess of chocolate scuffs and too-bright eyes by the time he finished licking the ice cream cup.</p><p>"Alright, let's head home and-"</p><p>The door crashed open with a resounding thud, and the man behind the counter squeaked, sprinted into a back room, and locked the door.  The few other customers gasped and slid their chairs away from tables, ready to bolt for the exits.</p><p>A loud chuffing sound and discordant clacking came from behind Teddy, and Harry's hand drifted to his wand in his back pocket.</p><p>"Ted, don't move.  I don't know-"</p><p>Teddy gasped, sugar-lit eyes wide.  The dried ice cream at the corners of his mouth cracked as his gasp melted into a ferocious grin.</p><p>"It's a <em>bear</em>, Uncle Harry!  <em>It</em> found <em>us</em>!"</p><p>Harry stared at him, bewildered.  "What the fu-  What?"</p><p>A wet, black nose at the end of a fuzzy white muzzle snuffled its way above the table, followed by jet black eyes and round, fluffy ears.  A bloody polar bear.  On Diagon Alley.</p><p>"The ice cream!  He wants the ice cream!"</p><p>Sure enough, the bear ambled around to Harry's side of the table toward the cup of raspberry ice cream.  A fairly small polar bear, he though.  It plopped its rear down on the floor next to Harry's chair while Harry simply stared at it, slack-jawed.  The bear looked expectantly up at him.  Black eyes blinked slowly, and the bear laid its paws in its lap.</p><p>"I think he wants you to feed it to him, Uncle Harry," Teddy squeaked, nearly vibrating in his seat.</p><p>"And I wonder if he isn't disappointed there's no salmon ice cream, hm?"  Harry quirked an eyebrow at the bear.</p><p>The bear chuffed and flicked its muzzle up and away from Harry in displeasure.  Harry rolled his eyes and offered the lumbering beast a spoonful of pink ice cream.  A long tongue flicked out, knocked the ice cream off the spoon, and it plopped onto the table.  The bear groaned and slumped.</p><p>Harry offered it a second bite while Teddy squealed excitedly, and the other customers looked on in horror that slowly faded to comprehension.  The bear tried to close its muzzle around the spoon, but only succeeded in clacking the metal against its teeth, scraping the roof of its mouth, and slobbering pink froth around its muzzle.</p><p>The bear looked at him and pouted.</p><p>"Uncle Harry, the bears at the zoo ate out of bowls.  I think he's just gonna have to eat it with his face."</p><p>Harry grinned wickedly and spoke to the bear.  "Hear that?  <em>Bear?</em>  Eat it with your <em>face</em>."</p><p>The bear rolled its eyes, but pulled its lips back and took an awkward bite off the top of the scoop.  It tilted its head back and snapped its jaw, working the blob of sugar and cream into the back of its mouth.</p><p>"<em>Goooood</em> little bear," Harry crooned, scratching it between the ears.</p><p>Teddy watched in rapt fascination as the bear joined him in the exclusive club of patrons with ice cream smeared all over their faces.</p><p>He leaned around the table toward Harry and whispered, "Can we take him home?"</p><p>Harry smirked down at the raspberry-muzzled mess next to him.  "Sure.  But I hope he doesn't think he's a pet."</p>
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